Loner in Space

  Loner in Space

  Steve Simons

  Copyright 2009 Steve Simons

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  ~~~~~~

  INDEX

  Chapter 1  The Loner

  Chapter 2  Is This Place Dangerous

  Chapter 3  The Unpredictable

  Chapter 4  Strange

  Chapter 5  Trapped

  Chapter 6  In Trouble

  Chapter 7  And There's More

  Chapter 8  From Torment to Adventurer

  Chapter 9 -Ever Wished You Hadn't?

  Chapter 10  Are We There Yet?

  Chapter 11  I Hope You Don't See Me

  Chapter 12  A Boy Has To Do

  Chapter 13  Escape, But Escape To Where?

  Chapter 14  Challenge

  Chapter 15  Harm

  Chapter 16  Understanding

  Chapter 17  Home, But At What Cost?

  Chapter 18 - What Can A Mere Boy Do?

  Chapter 19  As IF That Isn't Bad Enough

  Chapter 20  Care

  Chapter 21  Making Arrangements

  Chapter 22  Friends Stick Together

  ~~~~~~

  Chapter 1  The Loner

  The bell sounding in the corridor, is at once the welcome indication that the day's torture is over and at the same time, an warning that other trials are about to begin; well at least for Paul it is. Paul both likes and hates school. The science and technology lessons are interesting, the maths on occasions can be interesting, but as for the rest, Paul had no interest in nouns, adjectives, past rulers trials and tribulations or come to that the materials that make the local hills as distinctive as they are. Then there are the school bullies. These guys have less interest than Paul, in learning stuff, even if some of it could be useful to them, when it comes to their turn to leave school and get a job. Their favourite pursuit, seemed to be the making of others lives as much of a misery as possible. They took great delight in getting out of the classroom as quickly as possible and waiting for their victims outside the school and intercepting them before they got to the bus or gate. Then threaten the individuals, in order to extract some money, goods or even some completed homework, that has not been handed in yet.

  On this occasion Paul is quick off the mark, having entered the classroom last, he had found himself sitting right near the door, so when the bell sounded, Paul had his books packed away in double quick time and was out through the door before the usual suspects, even had the chance to leave their desks. Paul heard the teacher remark, Keen tonight aren't we Simpkins?

  Paul did not pause, he had a goal and that was to get as far away as possible before being challenged and held to ransom by the 'big four' as they liked themselves to be known. Paul reaches the gate so early his heart skips a beat as he sees that it is still closed, he hopes, he hopes..... yes the caretaker is there unlocking the shiny new padlock, the third fitted this term. No doubt this one will find itself also being forcefully removed, as had the previous ones. Despite increased police patrols, the school authorities had not found out who the mysterious padlock removers were. Paul arrives at the gate panting and wheezing, as if he had just run a marathon.

  The caretaker, slowly removes the padlock and slides the lock mechanism back. Its almost as if he's in league with the big four, as if he's being deliberately slow.

  Paul nervously looks around himself, no sign yet of the four, but they'll be here any moment. Come on! Paul mutters under his breath, as if it will encourage the caretaker to speed up.

  The caretaker smiles and asks, In a hurry to get home young man?

  You could say that. replies Paul.

  It's OK for some, I still got to stay around here until five. says the caretaker.

  Paul thinks to himself, 'the fact that you've probably done nothing much all day, I suppose counts for nothing.' Paul had seen the caretaker several times during the day, he had been sitting and reading a book in his garden, which is next to the playground. Paul replies, Yeah life is tough eh, I got stacks of homework to do before I can do anything else. Me Dad insists.

  The caretaker pauses a moment in thought, as he remembers the joys of homework. He hated it in his day. He replies, Yeah that's tough after a day of lessons and I've heard they give you far more these days than they gave us.

  Paul suggests, Sounds like we should form a mutual appreciation society.

  The caretaker is not sure if this young man is being sarcastic or if he means what he has just said. Giving him the benefit of doubt, he swings the gate open and says, Good night and good luck.

  Just then Paul spots the big four heading towards the gate. They seem to be occupied in hassling someone, however, Paul is taking no chances, he utters, Thanks mister, see ya tomorrow. The he starts running towards home and safety. He hears the caretaker mutter, Someone should do something to those four troublemakers. He also hears one of the big four shout out, Tomorrow Simpkins, tomorrow!

  Paul is so glad that he has escaped one more time.

  ~~ Later ~~

  Paul's father, a rather worried looking man, with short grey hair and not much of that to speak of; walks in through the front door. He looks even more worried as he catches sight of Paul putting on his coat ready to go out.

  Paul says, Oh hello Dad, just off out to play.

  Paul's Dad asks his nightly question, the one that Paul knows will be asked before anything else, Done your homework?

  Paul smiles and replies, Yes of course,first thing I did when I got home Dad. Well second actually if you count making a snack.

  What was it today then? asks Paul's Dad.

  What the snack? asks Paul.

  No the homework you dosey..... replies his Dad, not finishing his sentence.

  Paul says, Trigo something, basically maths.

  Oh trigonometry, couldn't see much point in it when I was your age, but it comes in handy I can tell you. replies his Dad.

  Paul had lost count of the number of times his Dad had used this or a similar phrase. He was half expecting the usual lecture about how his Dad applies his scholarly knowledge in his job, but no tonight it wasn't forthcoming. Instead his Dad just told him not to get into mischief and not come in too late as it was school tomorrow. As if Paul needed to be reminded of that!

  Paul promises to be back at a reasonable time, then sets off out the door. Whilst his Dad sets about taking his coat off and preparing some tea. As an afterthought he asks Paul, just before he disappears, Will you be wanting something for tea?

  No, its alright I had something earlier. replies Paul. Just then, his Dad enters the kitchen and sees the sink piled up with a pan and several other items.

  So I can see, never heard of washing up then? asks Paul's Dad, although he doesn't actually expect to get an answer to his question. Sure enough the closing door confirms he is not going to get one either, so no disappointment there.

  It was such a shame, that Paul's relationship with his Dad had degraded to such a level as this, they were little more than passing ships these days. Ever since Paul's Mum had died, he and his dad had just not been able
to get on with each other. They kind of tolerated each other's presence. So long as Paul did his homework, didn't get into any trouble, his Dad seemed to be quite happy. They both missed Paul's mum, she always seemed to be the glue that cemented family together. She was the one that could put smiles upon their faces. Now neither Paul nor his Dad spoke of her, or shared their happy memories. Paul once thumbed through the photo album looking back at pictures of happier days, when the three of them did things together. All his Dad could say when he found Paul looking through the album was, won't bring her back, nothing can do that, best accept that she's gone lad.

  Today Paul, put all thoughts out of his head about his Mum and come to that his Dad. He had other things in mind. He was off to explore a bit of the woods that had previously been out of bounds. Until they started building the new houses, the land had been considered as private and was well fenced off. However, now that the builders had moved in, they had removed some of the trees and that wasn't all they had removed, they had also taken down some of the fencing. This granted easy access to Paul. He was eager to explore. He knew that apart from the old guy in the hut at the front entrance to the site, there would be no-one around. Paul had discovered an easy way to get onto the site without alerting the night watchman. Paul's entrance was to the rear of the site, off of the main road. Yes he had to make sure that he didn't get spotted by passing cars, but as this wasn't a very busy road, that was the easy part. Paul soon found himself under the cover of the big trees, thrashing at the undergrowth, with the old broom handle that he'd brought along with him, specifically for this task. The fact that there was so much undergrowth, was a clear indicator that this was undiscovered territory. If there had been people travelling along this route, it could not have been for a number of years. Something had told Paul that this would be a route that would take him to something interesting. He could just 'feel it in his bones', as his uncle Jim would often say.

  Paul had come prepared, he had a torch and various other equipment, he had even brought a mini first aid kit and emergency food supplies, if you could call a couple of bars of chocolate and a packet of crisps emergency food.

  Paul had now been walking for half an hour, it would soon be time to think about setting off back. Although as he thought about that fact, he dwelled on the fact that he had been slowed down on the outward journey by all that undergrowth, the journey back would be much easier as the path had been cleared. So he reckons he can stay out here for at least another 15 minutes.

  Suddenly Paul catches the glint of something in the light of his torch. Whilst it was not dark, Paul had turned on his torch to take the edge off of the fact that it was getting darker.

  Paul heads towards whatever had reflected back the torchlight. There are some brambles in his way, he thrashes about for a bit, then gets his pocket knife out and sets about cutting the more stubborn branches, being careful not to snag his fingers on the thorns.

  Soon Paul has a considerable swathe cleared. He advances forward and notices that there are some branches piled up. He sets about removing these, as he does so, there are tantalising glimpses of something shiny below the twigs. Suddenly as he pulls a largish branch away, the light from his torch catches something and there is a low rumble sound and the metal below the few remaining branches, slides to the right, exposing a dark hole.

  Paul glimpses at his watch, more than fifteen minutes have passed since he last looked at the watch, he knows he must head back home now, or he will be in trouble. But the attraction of this newly revealed place is very strong. As Paul moves, his torch catches whatever had caused the metal to slide open and the rumble resumes again, sliding the metal back into place. Paul instinctively picks up some of the twigs and sprinkles them back over the metal to hide it again.

  Paul sets off back in the direction of home, determined to come back again tomorrow.

  ~~~~~~

  Chapter 2  Is This Place Dangerous?

  Paul is glad that he had no homework to do tonight, it means he can get back earlier, to whatever it is that he had found in the woods, the previous night. He was so glad that his Dad had not noticed him sneak back into the house last night. His ploy of pretending that he'd just come down from his bedroom to get a drink, had worked well, when his Dad came out of the lounge and was a bit startled to see Paul in the hallway. Paul had heard his Dad get out of his chair and head towards the lounge door, so grabbing the glass that he'd strategically placed in the hallway, earlier, before he went out, made it look even more realistic that he had just come down. Well his Dad was fooled anyway.

  Back to today's events, Paul has packed some food that he is going to take with him, to his new den. Yes he is planning to make the place that he has found, his new den. He had previously had a den down by the stream; that was, until the big four had discovered and wrecked it. Anyway not worth dwelling on that, they would not find out about this den. Paul's house and locality was well off of their stamping ground. Thank goodness.

  Paul checks that he has all the stuff he thinks he'll need and sets off, being careful to ensure he locks the house. He forgot once and there was hell to pay. He was not allowed out for a fortnight. So he is absolutely sure, that is not going to happen again. The door is securely locked and he left the hall light on to make it look like there was someone home.

  Soon the gap in the fencing is reached and Paul sets off again for the pathway that he had cleared the previous day. Paul had done a good job, although the pathway was not that obvious, he could see it and managed to get back to the pile of sticks in pretty fast time.

  It does not take long before Paul's clearing efforts expose the shiny metal again. Paul reaches for his torch, at first he thinks he has left it at home, as he can't find it, then suddenly he feels the smooth cylindrical shape in his pocket. Soon it is emitting its bright beam. Paul hopes that he can trigger whatever slid the metal open yesterday. His wish is soon granted, after a few sweeps with the torch, the rumbling noise can be heard again. Paul leans forward to peer into the now open black tunnel that lies before him.

  Suddenly Paul loses his balance and falls forward. He is about to let out a scream for help, but stops himself, thinking that it will draw attention to himself and to his discovery. He manages, as he is falling, to throw himself to one side and instead of falling into the tunnel, he manages to grasp the side of it and steady himself. He awkwardly eases himself into the tunnel, where he finds some steps. Once stable, he swings the torch around himself trying to make out what is in the tunnel. At first it seems like he is standing at the foot of an almost circular structure, but then he notices that one side has a flat surface, a doorway. Paul looks around for something that he can again trigger with his torch. After much swinging backwards and forwards, also up and down, Paul's torch must have found the trigger point as the inner door now rumbles open. As it slides to a halt, there is a somewhat echoy sound. There is a rather musty smell emerging from the now open doorway. Cautiously, Paul, advances through this second doorway, he is somewhat surprised when he finds that the door just stays open, he had expected it to close of its own volition. The other side of the door is a corridor leading deeper into whatever this place is. As to the latter, Paul is keen to find that out. He advances down the corridor swinging his torch from side to side as he goes. There are objects strewn around on the floor, none of which are familiar. Paul can see that ahead of him are doors leading off to the right and the left. He cannot wait to get to the first of these, but he must go slowly as there may be any number of things that could make him slip or trip. The first door still seems to be a tantalising distance away from Paul.

  When Paul reaches the door he is most disappointed at what lays behind it, basically nothing, it was obviously intended as a cupboard for storing things, but precisely what things, was a well guarded secret, as the cupboard is now empty. Although come to that, it may have never contained anything in the first place. Disappointed,
Paul moves on to the next door and this time he is delighted to find a room that appears to be somewhat like a cabin, that you see in pictures of ships, there are two rectangular holes in the wall that faced Paul, the lowest of which had some sort of fibrous material in it, that looked almost like an ancient threadbare cloth. Possibly at one time it was a blanket, but it certainly could not be used for that purpose now. It looked as if it would fall apart if you touched it. It had that cotton candy look of candy floss, as you pull it off of the stick or out of a bag. Paul steps into the room, again fearing that the door will close, only this time, his fears are confirmed, as the door slides silently back into place, trapping Paul in the room.

  Panicking, Paul desperately looks around for some sort of door trigger panel. Suddenly there is a bang noise as if something has been dropped either inside or outside this place and the sound echoes throughout this place making Paul as nervous as he could possibly be. Perhaps whoever owns this place has returned. He must get lout of this room and quickly! As Paul looks around the room for something to trigger the door to open again, he notices that there are two more rectangular openings in the opposite wall to the first. Paul's search becomes ever more desperate, when suddenly the door starts to slide open. Was this as a result of his actions, or is there someone outside waiting for him to emerge. Paul waits silently, listening, straining to hear, to hear anything. Then he hears a sort of high pitched whine, regular in its delivery, as if generated by a machine or electronic circuit. The more he listens to it, the more he becomes aware that he thinks he could hear it when he first entered this place, but with his excitement and apprehension as to what he'd find, he had not noticed the sound then. Paul cautiously emerges from the room, back into the corridor. If the earlier sounds that he had heard when captured in the room had been made by someone who's place this was, there was no sign of them in the corridor. Paul decides to proceed further down the corridor with caution, keeping an eye out for anything that would indicate that there was someone else around. Although that was a bit difficult in this gloomy corridor, lit only by Paul's torch.